Greetings all!

Today I am going to be starting a new column called “Spotlight”. In this column, I will, well, spotlight a different company, imprint, and maybe even a comic or two. You will get a little bit of history and a little bit of opinion, and hopefully, a lot of enjoyment.

As you might have been able to guess from the title, today’s Spotlight topic is going to be DC’s Vertigo imprint. So, let’s get started!

DC comics officially launched Vertigo in 1993, but the groundwork for the imprint was laid down well before that. The architect of Vertigo was an editor by the name of Karen Berger, who had started with DC in the late 1970’s as an assistant to editor Paul Levitz. Throughout the 1980’s Berger, now and editor, began amassing the (largely British) talent that would soon form the core of the Vertigo imprint. Berger was responsible for bringing names like Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, Jamie Delano and Peter Milligan to DC. Berger placed the Brits on a variety of titles from DOOM PATROL, to SHADE THE CHANGING MAN, to HELLBLAZER. These titles, along with a few others (including Alan Moore’s SWAMP THING) would eventually form the core of the Vertigo imprint. What set these titles apart was that they were almost entirely for mature readers only.

ANIMAL MAN was one of the first Vertigo titles. He was also apparently afraid of mandrills.

In 1993, the big wigs at DC, including publisher Jenette Kahn and managing editor Dick Giordano, mandated that Berger take these titles and use them as the base of a new imprint that would “Help comics grow up.” And thus, Vertigo was born.

Gingers from space in coats made of insanity, these are the things Vertigo are made of.

Vertigo grew steadily over the next few years with a steady stream of titles in a variety of formats, from ongoing series like SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATER, to mini-series like KID ETERNITY, to one-shots. The imprint was given a distinct trade dress to distinguish Vertigo from other DC books.

The strip on the side means “No Kids Allowed”

Two other things helped Vertigo grow over the next decade. One was a commitment to creator owned work, such as Y: THE LAST MAN, and 100 BULLETS. The other was that Vertigo was able to cherry-pick properties from defunct DC imprints and print them. Some examples of this are TRANSMETROPOLITAN, which started out under the Helix imprint, and A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, which was printed under the Paradox Press imprint, but all reprints had the Vertigo tag attached to them.

Vertigo stole this man.

Vertigo has also experimented with several sub-imprints, such as Vertigo Pop! (focusing on pop culture) and Vertigo Verite (trying to capture the spirit of cinema verite), over the last 15 years, with varied results. The most recent sub-imprint is the newly formed Vertigo Crime imprint.

FILTHY RICH is the first title of the Vertigo Crime line. I’m guessing that woman is both filthy and rich.

Today Vertigo puts out about 20 titles a month, between graphic novels and regular books. Of the seven initial titles put out by the imprint, only HELLBLAZER is still ongoing, but new series such as DMZ and SCALPED are continuing the Vertigo tradition.

SCALPED. Despite appearances, this man does not have a head full of feathers.

Vertigo is an imprint with many strengths . With the impetus of the imprint being a rather vague “helping comics grow up”, the line can (and does) explore a wide variety of genres, from crime to horror to science fiction. And by carrying a mature reader label, creators have the freedom to tell their stories, not some watered-down kid-friendly version.

If this were a DC book, you’d never get to see breasts. What is SWAMP THING without breasts?

Another strength is that Vertigo does not have any distinct art style which means that each title can have an artist that best suits it, there is no need to have someone who fits the “house style”. From Chris Bachalo’s page-filling craziness to Edwardo Risso’s heavy blacks, each book gets the artist it needs, not the one the company wants.

This is Death. She’s Perky!

The importance that Vertigo places on creator owned work helps draw top level talent consistently. Vertigo also seems to maintain a good relationship with it’s creators, increasing the odds that they will continue to come back.

Anywhere else and this book would probably never get published.

For as great as Vertigo is, the imprint also has its flaws. With a mature readers tag, there is a somewhat limited base of readers that can be reached. If a book doesn’t sell, it doesn’t matter how great it is.

No matter how spectacular it is, a comic named LUCIFER is only gonna sell so many copies…

Also, while the lack of a particular art style keeps the books looking unique, many of the Vertigo books do not look very good. There have been a few series over the years that I have dropped (no, I will not name them) due to the lackluster art. The art styles are also rarely similar to what young readers get in their superhero books, so the change in styles could dissuade DC readers from becoming Vertigo readers.

What is going on here?

Vertigo is an imprint that has helped to change the landscape of comics. For all the shortcomings of the line (which aren’t really that many), the ability to expand the audience of comic book readers from mainly kids to anyone with eyes is huge. People may not like some of the comics that Vertigo has put out, but that is a part of the line’s beauty, there is something for everyone. Not to mention, some of the best comics that I have read in my life have come from vertigo. PREACHER, Y: THE LAST MAN, and 100 BULLETS are some of my all-time favorite series. I also think I can safely say that without Vertigo, there would be no Semantink today.

Thank you Vertigo, for the man with the dong-shaped head.

Thanks for stopping in all, and if you have a particular company/imprint/comic that you would like to see spotlighted (spotlit?), let me know.